The Meaning of Naming the Pre-Prophecy Era as the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah)
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. Some people say that naming the era before the Prophet's mission as the age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) is a reference to ignorance that is the opposite of forbearance, not the opposite of knowledge; because the Arabs possessed various sciences. What is the validity of this statement? May Allah grant you success.
Answer:
This statement is invalid. On the contrary, the Arabs had a great deal of forbearance. They had forbearance, and poets praised them for their forbearance. The intended meaning of ignorance here is that it is the opposite of knowledge; that is what is meant by ignorance. As for the claim that the intended meaning of ignorance is the opposite of forbearance, that is an invalid interpretation. On the contrary, the Arabs had forbearance and they had intellects, but it did not benefit them in the face of disbelief.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. Some people say that naming the era before the Prophet's mission as the age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) is a reference to ignorance that is the opposite of forbearance, not the opposite of knowledge; because the Arabs possessed various sciences. What is the validity of this statement? May Allah grant you success.
Answer:
This statement is invalid. On the contrary, the Arabs had a great deal of forbearance. They had forbearance, and poets praised them for their forbearance. The intended meaning of ignorance here is that it is the opposite of knowledge; that is what is meant by ignorance. As for the claim that the intended meaning of ignorance is the opposite of forbearance, that is an invalid interpretation. On the contrary, the Arabs had forbearance and they had intellects, but it did not benefit them in the face of disbelief.
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب ما جاء في الاستسقاء بالأنواء — islamhouse.com (1:07:12)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.